Chiba bento
Two weeks ago, I went on a short getaway to a lodge in Chiba, a prefecture north of Tokyo (but it is considered to be in the Greater Tokyo area). My friends drove up late Saturday afternoon and I thought a bento would be great if I needed to snack on the way up.
As I mentioned previously, I’m finding it difficult to digest heavy portions of nuts and seeds, so I haven’t been chowing on raw crackers as frequently as before. Carrot sticks and cucumber slices are what I use when I make a dip.
One of the fastest raw dips to make is a pine nut based one because it only takes an hour of soaking for it to be ready. Other nuts like cashews, macadamias, walnuts and almonds take 6 – 8 hours to soak and I definitely need to plan in advance if I want it for a certain meal. You can find the recipe here for the sundried tomato pine nut pate I made for this bento.
I had some baby tomatoes that needed to be eaten so I threw those in too.
Another fave is Lydia’s Organics Lemon & Ginger bar that is made of sprouted buckwheat. I enjoy Larabars but they can be a bit too sweet as they’re 50 per cent dates and 50 per cent nuts or other fruit.
My token raw dessert is always a Raweo but they are so friggin’ good and small enough for bentos.
I’ll be going to San Fran again in late April so I hope to discover new raw treats to bring back to Tokyo. Can’t wait!
